Life Steal (budget)

Modern Cyrrus

SCORE: 51 | 99 COMMENTS | 16620 VIEWS | IN 38 FOLDERS


Xindlepete says... #1

A good idea, and I like that extort significantly lessens the difficulty of flipping the Chalice of Life  Flip . Though part of what makes extort function so well is focusing the deck on lower cost spells, so you have the extra mana to extort. And while Stuffy Doll is useful, and Exquisite Blood gives it a similar effect to lifelink, I don't think it fits in with everything else quite as well. You should consider sideboarding them for either the other 2x Pacifism (cheap removal) or the other 2x Elixir of Immortality (cheap lifegain/graveyard return). I also feel that Treasury Thrull , while very useful, is a bit too expensive. Consider adding in more Gravepurge if you really like the effect.

Again, by dropping your overall mana curve, you will have more leftover mana to extort every spell you cast, likely multiple times. And trust me when I say that every trigger of extort is a nail in their coffin.

April 1, 2013 3:18 a.m.

Cyrrus says... #2

What if I increase the quantity of Orzhov Keyrune and/or Traveler's Amulet ?
Is there a way I can bring Exquisite Blood out earlier? e.g. something that pulls it from my library.

April 1, 2013 4:47 a.m.

Xindlepete says... #3

Not in standard that I'm aware of. Though Diabolic Revelation and Increasing Ambition are good for searching for whatever you want, they don't put it into play. Perhaps run 2x Exquisite Blood and 2x Increasing Ambition ? Maximize your chance of pulling the Exquisite Blood , and since they are the exact same cost if you cast Increasing Ambition to fetch Exquisite Blood you know you can cast it next turn. That way your top end is only CMC 5, and you'll only have 4 cards out of 40 (nonland) that mana-expensive. And if you have the Exquisite Blood already out on the field, then the Increasing Ambition can search for anything else you might need. Just a thought.

April 1, 2013 7:18 a.m.

MTG_Player says... #4

I suggest you edit as per the following:

2 Knight of Obligation 2 Basilica Guards

1 Plains and Swamp for 2 Transguild Promenade

Gravepurge and 2 Traveler's Amulet for 3 Oblivion Ring

2 Stuffy Doll for 2 Pacifism

2x Elixir of Immortality and 2 Chalice of Life  Flip for 4 Orzhov Charm

and if you can acquire the maybeboard cards, that would help alot in your deck.

April 1, 2013 12:02 p.m.

Here are a few suggestions, pick and choose what you like! By my comments I have no intention of being negative. I'm just sharing my two cents.

  1. You're 3-drop slot can be filled with a more efficient card than Basilica Guards . Cut.
  2. Stuffy Doll doesn't really fit; you don't have a way to deal massive damage to it. Cut.
  3. Treasury Thrull might be too mana-intensive without the Ghast out, so I'd drop him as well.
  4. Traveler's Amulet isn't necessary in a two color deck. Cut.
  5. I think Knight of Obligation s slot can be filled more efficiently too. Drop to a 2-of.
  6. Not a fan of Elixir of Immortality or Orzhov Keyrune . Maybe SB card for the Elixer?
  7. Gravepurge isn't necessary either

With the above cuts, you're left with 14 slots. I recommend adding 4x Vampire Nighthawk , 2 lands that fit the curve, 3x Orzhov Charm , 3x Kingpin's Pet , and 2x Rhox Faithmender .

Hmm that might be too many creatures. Oblivion Ring , as MTG_Player mentioned, would be a good choice as well.

Again, my two cents. Not perfect advice, but hopefully I've suggested at least one thing you like!

April 2, 2013 4:38 p.m.

Cyrrus says... #6

@ ducttapedeckbox and MTG_Player

You guys make great points for an all out extort deck but my idea was to revolve around Chalice of Life  Flip while using extort to flip it sooner. Elixir of Immortality was more because for 3 mana I can get 5 life.

Any ideas on how to better achieve this?

I plan to make a 3 colour extort/cipher deck later but I need to finish this one first. For now i agree with most of your points about reducing and cutting cards so I'll put that in an update

April 3, 2013 3:07 a.m.

Cyrrus says... #7

after looking at this update I could probably reduce the amount of creatures

April 3, 2013 3:36 a.m.

KrazyCaley says... #8

As with the other deck, one or two more lands, get rid of Transguild Promenade and replace it with duals if you can, or basics if you have to, and consider Heroes Remembered .

April 5, 2013 4:44 a.m.

Xindlepete says... #9

Wow dude, no kidding you changed it! Even switched from standard to modern. Haha. Looks good though. If you're looking into token production for triggering the Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant , then find room for Lingering Souls , Doomed Traveler , and Growing Ranks . That way you have a few spells to help get those initial tokens, and Growing Ranks to trigger the "soul sisters" every turn.

I also think you should drop Angel's Mercy for Rest for the Weary . Half the cost, and almost every time you cast it will be with landfall, meaning you net 1 additional life. Probably swap Cathedral Sanctifier for the Doomed Traveler if you go the token route, swap 1x Exquisite Blood and 1x Orzhov Keyrune for 2x Growing Ranks , and swap 1x Orzhov Keyrune and 2x Pacifism for 3x Lingering Souls . You shouldn't worry too much about stopping creatures from attacking with all your lifegain, but you want to keep Murder around for those game altering creatures and wincons your opponents play.

One more thing, since this is now a modern deck, drop Transguild Promenade . Terrible, terrible land. With Ancient Ziggurat at about $3 and Exotic Orchard at about $1.50, its not too much money to get something better.

April 5, 2013 5:07 a.m.

Cyrrus says... #10

Rest for the Weary is a freakishly AWESOME idea! I'm definitely doing that. as for the tokens, I wanna see how this works before making another large change so I'll look at that later tonight. Thanks heaps!

April 5, 2013 5:15 a.m.

Xindlepete says... #11

Haha, well I'm no KrazyCaley, but sometimes I do know what I'm talking about! Glad to help out. Don't forget to make that change for BOTH "Life Steal" decks.

April 5, 2013 5:19 a.m.

Cyrrus says... #12

I'm not sure about Cathedral Sanctifier for the Doomed Traveler since Cathedral Sanctifier is a very fast way of gaining life without needing the 'Soul Sisters'. Kind of like a back up. But maybe Doomed Traveler could be more affective so I'm not sure.

April 5, 2013 5:29 a.m.

Xindlepete says... #13

Only make that switch if you are opting into the token production. Cathedral Sanctifier is great the way the deck is now, but with token production Doomed Traveler would be more useful. Sorry if that wasn't quite clear in the earlier post. It's just that for one card you can get two triggers off of any "soul sisters" on the field, and he gives you a token for the Growing Ranks to target.

April 5, 2013 5:35 a.m.

Cyrrus says... #14

The tokens seem more affective but a bit slower so I'll trial this a few times and then I might make the changes.

April 5, 2013 5:42 a.m.

Cyrrus says... #15

What do you think of replacing Vampire Nighthawk with Doomed Traveler ? It wont help me with the non-budget version though.

April 5, 2013 5:45 a.m.

Cyrrus says... #16

I didn't bother with Growing Ranks because I don't have enough token generation to make it useful. My main problem now is that after the first few turns I'm going to be top-decking so I need a good draw mechanic. Maybe a consistent one.

April 5, 2013 9:26 a.m.

Wabbbit says... #17

Not sure if this has been suggested, but to prevent you from topdecking, Mentor of the Meek would be nice.

April 5, 2013 10:20 a.m.

Deco_y says... #18

buffy took the words right out of my mouth. Mentor of the Meek is an excellent card for white draw, especially with the creatures you're running.

April 5, 2013 11:53 a.m.

Cyrrus says... #19

What do you think i should remove to make room? All these cards seem important now

April 5, 2013 12:06 p.m.

MTG_Player says... #20

add in another Lingering Souls take out the three Exquisite Blood for something like Sanguine Blood or Luminarch Ascension

April 5, 2013 1:15 p.m.

Like the new colors, Cyrrus!

Sanguine Bond could be very useful, even though it's a more expensive version of the Guildmage's second ability. I also second the addition of Mentor of the Meek .

One of my favorite cards, Divinity of Pride , is a possibility for the non-budget version of the deck.

Some other cards off the top of my head include Divine Congregation , Gift of Orzhova , and Transcendent Master (again, a questionable price-based card).

Let us know what you might want to add so we can help make the changes!

April 5, 2013 2:46 p.m.

Cyrrus says... #22

@ ducttapedeckbox and Xindlepete

haha thanks. I'll be sticking around so I thought I might as well upgrade. The attention grabbing name and extra deckcycles would help heaps so the sooner the better.

April 6, 2013 9:32 a.m.

Xindlepete says... #23

Bah! Give me the challenge, I say! Relish in victory all the more! :D

April 6, 2013 9:41 a.m.

Cyrrus says... #24

@ Xindlepete, ducttapedeckbox, KrazyCaley, buffy, Leafs_suck, MTG_Player, Scumgrief, dbrannon, FortFade and anyone else.

I've added Sanguine Bond to the non-budget version already but it doesn't really belong in this one at nearly $20 a card. Maybe when the price drops, if ever.

Luminarch Ascension seems slow and conditional so it might not be worth it as far as I can see. My main weakness would be board wipes like Killing Wave but I don't come across them often.

Divine Congregation would be great for 'blackmail' stalling the opponent but I'm not sure that I need it yet so maybe a sideboard card.
I see now that Mentor of the Meek or something similar is essential.
1 more Lingering Souls could be useful but maybe not essential unless I take Xindlepete's advice and go the token path with Growing Ranks . The reason I didn't take Ranks is because I don't have the token generation to make it essential so I left room for other things.
And according to KrazyCaley I still need to add 2 more lands for a deck of this speed which I definitely agree with.
I'm not sure taking out exquisite blood is the best idea since it puts me in an infinite loop win condition with Vizkopa Guildmage // Sanguine Bond , is very affective with Chalice of Death  Flip and is still great with any other amount of damage I can do.

How do you guys think I should go about these changes? (if any)

April 6, 2013 9:46 a.m.

Xindlepete says... #25

The more I read through everybody else's suggestions, the more I realize that looking into the token production isn't going to yield the best results. So keep your 3x Lingering Souls and forget everything else I mentioned earlier. :P Sorry to waste our time.

For the Mentor of the Meek , I think drop 1x Exquisite Blood , 1x Cathedral Sanctifier , and 1x Chalice of Life  Flip . That opens you up for 3x Mentor of the Meek , and you only pull one creature out for that exchange. The "soul sisters" are too important to lose any of, and you probably don't want to drop any more Vampire Nighthawk or Vizkopa Guildmage . I know you'll probably grit your teeth about losing a Chalice of Life  Flip , but I think 3 is still plenty. :P

April 6, 2013 10 a.m.

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